Get QuoteDark Inspirational Quotes App

" You write these songs which are really dear to you about your family or friends, loved ones, and then you get this call, and they say, 'It's perfect for two vampires making out in the back of a car.' It's some random TV show, and so I say, 'Oh, yeah, perfect - that's what I meant it for.' "

Related Quotes:

" It's silly to throw things out or label things. You know, is U2 a Christian band, or was Johnny Cash a Christian country singer? I don't know, but they're pretty open about their faith. "

Mat Kearney

Silly

You

Know

" I've always been a writer. I've always done writing or spoken-word, hip-hop stuff with my friends. "

" There are people I love in Nashville and would not want to go a day without talking to, but I want to see the world. "

" I never wanted to be on an exclusively Christian label. "

" There's this song called 'Brad Chester,' which is like the depths of my family. It comes from a very personal place. "

" When I set out to write, I want to write something that will rip your heart out and connect with you. Great songs connect beyond genre and style. "

" 'Nothing Left to Lose' was an album that I wrote in my bedroom, and you don't know who is listening or who cares. "

" You go to a Springsteen show, and half of the people are there to party and forget about their cares, and they're being drawn to this visceral experience. And then the other half, you know, has lived and died with his 'Nebraska' album and considers him one of the greatest poets. "

Mat Kearney

You

Experience

" I had the lyric 'Chip Don't Go' and a few words, and my wife came in and said that it sounded like a good song. I thought I'd finish writing it up and posting it to YouTube. I didn't realize it was going to take off like it did. "

" I would sit in my dorm room and write songs. I loved it. I was learning to sing and play guitar. I was becoming a musician. I was the beginner who somehow could write a song. "

" 'City Of Black And White' was me trying to do something more mature, more adult contemporary. "

" I was an English major in college, so I really liked spoken word and poetry; it was what I did before I wrote music. "

" Minneapolis has always been a very special place for me. "

Mat Kearney

Always

Been

" My goal is to try to avoid a genre. "

" With 'City of Black & White,' I wanted a record that would make you feel good, that would sort of take you up in its hand and sweep you along. "

" Money definitely does not equal success in recording. "

" I love Bruce Springsteen's writing, but I grew up on '90s hip hop, like Tribe Called Quest. "

Mat Kearney

Writing

" I didn't start writing music until I was a sophomore in college. I would steal my roommate's guitar and sit on the front porch and kind of blend this weird spoken word and these little melodies over simple chords; that really started my whole journey as a musician. "

" I was an English major, and I always wrote poems. "

" I love what I do. I love playing music. "

" I do know great books help shape who I am and how I look at life. "

" I'm painfully a realist but ruthlessly an optimist. I think maybe it's because of my faith - I've always got the hope that there is something out there to make it all worthwhile. "

" I don't know how much I'm connected to the hip-hop scene, but I definitely lend from that urgency. "

" I think, in a lot of ways, hip-hop is interesting to me because it's like the modern-day folk music. "

Mat Kearney

Music

Interesting

" When I first started writing music, it was to express that. I was trying to find God and trying to find meaning in my life. That's what my music was about. It wasn't to entertain. "

" Somehow, my music really suits doctors making out in the syringe room. "

" Even on tour, where I perform songs from 'City Of Black And White,' I still do songs from 'Nothing Left To Lose.' I never turned my back on that material. On some albums, you change - that's all. The trick is to follow your heart and do what feels right. "

" I've had moments in my career when I've made more money and had more success than at other times, but I've realized being happy has very little to do with any of that. "

" I think coming from the Northwest is something that's born in your blood. On my mom's side, I'm, like, a sixth-generation Oregonian. My family came over in the covered wagons, 'Oregon Trail'-video-game style. Maybe the pioneer mentality runs in my blood because they were all pioneers. "

" I enjoy changing; I think it's more fun to try something different than to just do what you did last time. As an artist, you just want to keep creating, keep finding a place that really inspires you that feels fresh and new, and keep it exciting. "